


Home for the Holidays

by LainaFantasy



Series: Laina's Transcendence AU stories [3]
Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Alternate Universe - Transcendence (Gravity Falls), Aphobia, Asexual Character, Asexual pride, Asexuality, Christmas, Christmas Angst, Demon Summoning, Gen, Holidays, Implied/Referenced Aphobia, Nonbinary Character, Pride, Transcendence AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-26
Updated: 2017-12-26
Packaged: 2019-02-22 00:10:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 901
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13154994
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LainaFantasy/pseuds/LainaFantasy
Summary: Holidays aren't always easy. Families aren't always as accepting as they should be.Dipper receives a summons on Christmas from someone who needs to go home and get away from their family.





	Home for the Holidays

**Author's Note:**

> Warning: Discussion of aphobia  
> ...also warning for demonic summoning, but if that surprised you, well, welcome to the Transcendence AU

Christmas day tended to be a rather low-traffic day for summoning, which was fine by Dipper. Sure, he got the occasional request to un-cook an overcooked meal or to help with a really, _really_ last-minute gift need, but he usually only had two or three small requests for the entire day. Apparently, even most cultists took a day off for Christmas. Who knew?

So, Dipper was minding his own business (currently between Mizar incarnations and not particularly close with any niblings… so he had the day to himself, really) when a summons that felt distinctly _desperate_ came in – not “I burned the turkey” desperate or “I forgot to get Aunt Matilda a gift” desperate; rather, some honest-to-goodness “I’m about to die” kind of desperate. Dipper hesitated, but his curiosity won out, so he warily answered the summons by simply popping into the air above the circle, skipping most of his usual theatrics. “Who dares summon Alcor the Dreambender,” he said mechanically, more as a tagline than an actual question.

The figure in front of Alcor blinked in surprise, looking unnerved at the lack of theatrics. They were pretty short, but they looked to be about twenty years old. “Um… hi. My name is… um… wait, do chosen names count as True Names? No, no, that’s a stupid question to ask a demon. Um…”

“I don’t need your name,” Dipper said dismissively. “I just need to know what you want from me. Why are you summoning a demon on Christmas day, exactly?”

“I… need to get home. Now.” They looked up at Dipper, making eye contact with him. Their brown eyes held Dipper’s gaze steadily despite how much Dipper’s eyes usually unnerved mortals.

Dipper raised an eyebrow. “Why? Why do you need me for this?”

They fidgeted with the hem of their sweater as they answered, “Right now, I’m at my parents' house, with extended family, and… I knew this would be a mistake, but they insisted I come…” Their eyes looked over Dipper’s form searchingly. “I’ve… heard that you identify as asexual.”

The non-sequitur caught Dipper so off guard that he snorted, choked on his own saliva, and coughed up glitter. “I’m sorry, _what?_ ”

The kid at least had the decency to look concerned, but they pressed on. “My family doesn’t believe that asexuality is real,” they explained. “Or aromanticism, for that matter. They think I just haven’t ‘met the right person yet’. It was bad enough when I was only dealing with my parents, but then they brought it up as… as some kind of _joke_ at the dinner-table, and…” They closed their eyes and sighed, and their expression clearly demonstrated their emotional pain.

Dipper had never personally dealt with much aphobia, but, well, he knew what it was like to have a family that didn’t understand him. He could sympathize with this kid. “Alright, so you clearly need to get out of here.”

The kid looked up with hope in their eyes. “Y-yeah, yeah I do. If I can just get back to my apartment…”

Dipper nodded. “I can do that. What are you willing to pay?”

They winced, apparently not looking forward to trying to answer this question.

“How about I take the dinner leftovers and all of the pies?” Dipper suggested.

The kid looked back up at him. “Uh, sure, but those aren’t really mine to offer…”

Dipper waved away the comment. “Semantics. Trust me, it’ll work as payment, _and_ it will leave your family confused and in disarray when they go to serve dessert only to find that all of the pies are gone.”

They cracked a small smile. “Alright, sounds good to me.”

“Is that a deal?” Dipper held out a hand wreathed in blue flames, though he kept the flames to a minimum.

Hesitating somewhat, the kid carefully stated, “You’ll get me safely to my apartment, immediately, in one piece, in the same condition as when I am now, and in exchange, you get all of my family’s dinner leftovers and all of the pies. Is that right?”

“Yes.”

“Deal.” They accepted Dipper’s hand. Instantly, Dipper teleported with the kid to the location he could see in the kid’s mind – home. The two of them materialized in a small but decent studio apartment that was slightly decorated for the holidays. It looked cozy, but also a little lonely. Dipper thought about them spending the rest of the day alone here…

“Do you want one of the pies?” Dipper blurted out.

The kid looked up at Dipper, clearly surprised. “Uh… sure? What will it cost me?”

Dipper hesitated, but he finally mumbled, “…let me hang out with you for a bit?”

They blinked a few times in surprise before they shrugged. “Sure, I guess. Got nothing better to do. Want to play a game? I have a copy of _What Could Go Wrong: The Board Game_ , vintage edition.”

“Really?” Dipper asked, both in response to the game and this kid’s blasé reaction to the demon’s request to hang out.

“Yeah. It’s a lot of fun.” They offered Dipper a little half-smile. “Us aces have to stick together, right?”

Dipper had never quite understood the idea of ‘pride’, of feeling such connection and community with someone purely on the basis of having the same sexual or romantic orientation as someone else. But, in this moment, he thought he had an idea. He mirrored their smile. “Right.”

**Author's Note:**

> At the time of posting this, Christmas was yesterday, so I hope that all of you (who celebrated it) had a much better day than this kid here. For those of you whose holiday season was quite a bit like this, though, just know that you are not alone and you are valid.
> 
> Happy new year, everyone.


End file.
